On Sunday, some of the members of Saundersfoot Rotary Club and a member of the general public joined the Great British Beach Clean project. As recommended, they wore suitable clothing for the occasion, stout footwearm strong protective gloves and used litter pickers.

The search for plastic, rubber, metal, glass and other non biodegradable items started at the beach slipway on Saundersfoot beach and headed north towards Coppet Hall.

Items discarded by unthinking people included odd shoes, swimming trunks, plastic beakers, bottles and drink cans, as well as quite a lot of fishing net and fishing line.

Shockingly they found the remains of fires, one group had used a rubber car tyre as fuel, this had partly burned leaving black, smelly, sticky half-burned residue in the sand in an area where  ‘fires are forbidden’ notices were clearly displayed. The metal - reinforced remnants of the tyre were half-buried, forming sharp needles protruding from the sand to stick into the feet of any unwary bare-footed beach user.

This is an irresponsible act carried out by a small minority of beach users who are not only spoiling the enjoyment of our beautiful beaches, but also putting the health and safety of innocent people at great risk. The same can be said about the persons who left a used condom on the sand, and the dog lover who picked up, but then left the black plastic bag full of dog poo on the beach.

Please enjoy our beautiful Pembrokeshire beaches and coastline, but remember to act responsibly by either taking your litter home or placing it in the receptacles provided.

Remember the saying: ‘Leave only footprints’.